Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious liberty and
fundamental first amendment rights.

The Supreme Court was asked to determine whether or not the
Obama administration had once again overstepped its authority per
the limits imposed on it through the bipartisan Religious Freedom
and Restoration Act (RFRA)-and in a landmark decision the justices
ruled that the Administration had. The Obama mandate would
punish people of faith and would force them to provide coverage for
items that went against their religious beliefs. The decision
considered the mandate to be an undue burden on specific employers'
free exercise rights, as safeguarded under the United States
Constitution.

All Americans, including family business owners, must be free to
live and work according to their beliefs without fear of government
punishment or mandates. Thankfully, the Supreme Court through
its ruling in the Hobby Lobby case recognized that these
fundamental rights should be protected and upheld.

Standing outside the Supreme Court on a hot, humid, June day in
DC it struck me how many young people joined on the steps of the
Supreme Court defending freedom. A variety of pro-life,
pro-family, and pro-freedom groups were represented and stood
together in defense of religious liberty, making their voices
heard.

Surrounded by so many students from Young Americans for Freedom
and Students For Life was inspiring and affirmed what I already
knew-that we are the pro-life, pro-freedom
generation. Young America's Foundation is an advocate for and
a representative on behalf of young people. We know from our
polling that young people don't want an interventionist government
and they certainly don't want the massive government overreach we
are subject to under the Obama Administration.

The government tried to hit families and family businesses with
crippling fines for simply exercising their religious freedom and
the Supreme Court ruling affirmed that we must respect the
religious freedom of everyone. The Obama administration has
consistently tried to ensure that if you own a business the
government runs it-but this time Obama's overreach was shut
down.

It seems fitting that this decision was handed down the same
week that America celebrates its birthday and independence.
Nothing will ever come close to describing the elation felt by all
when the decision was released and religious freedom was
preserved. The Supreme Court stood with the framers when they
enacted the First Amendment to protect the rights of American
family business owners to exercise their beliefs.